Category: Personal

If you’re an English major in college, then someone’s probably asked you if you’re going to be an English teacher. Then comes the awkwardness of trying to explain that there’s more to an English major than just teaching. So, English majors, have hope! There are careers available for those who decide to pursue an English degree!

My College Experience

At Utah State University, there is a variety of English emphases you can pursue. You don’t just get an English degree. I personally graduated with an emphasis in Professional and Technical Writing, the most vague of emphases. Even I sometimes don’t know what a technical writer does. Some of the other emphases are English Education, Creative Writing, Folklore, and Literature Studies. You can see the full list USU offers for English here. While some of these programs may prepare their students for grad school or furthering their education in other ways, some English emphases are actually in high demand.

Why Choose Technical Communication?

If there’s one thing I don’t regret, it’s taking the Professional and Technical Communication emphasis. I always wanted to be an editor of some sort, but I wasn’t interested in journalism. I always viewed the Professional and Technical Communication emphasis as the “hodge-podge” of English majors that didn’t want to do any other emphasis. Some of my favorite parts of the program were:

Few Essays. As an English major, you would think it consisted of essay after essay, right? Wrong. My roommates were often writing more essays than I was. In fact, I did very little writing for most of my courses.

Useable Skills. I currently don’t have evidence for this, but I’ve heard a lot of rumors that many people, if they find a job in their major, often find that the knowledge they gain doesn’t actually help them in the work force. However, as a Professional and Technical Communicator student, college definitely prepared me for my job. My classes focused on creating content that focused on the purpose, and that is exactly what I do for my career.

Versatile. Unlike other majors that have classes that need to be taken in a certain order, I had the choice to take whatever I wanted, depending on what was offered that semester. There are actually very few required courses, and I was able to complete a business minor without taking any extra classes. I loved being able to take courses that I was interested in rather than only what I was required to take.

What Can You Do with a Degree in English?

While the careers vary per emphasis, these were some of the careers I ran into while job hunting after college.

Copy/Content Writer. This is actually the career that I landed in. I now work at a digital marketing agency as a content specialist. I never would have described myself as someone who wanted to write for a living, but that’s what I do! Surprisingly, I love it! Writing content for companies is not like writing an essay. It’s a complex, yet fun process to create content that is engaging and fun for potential readers.

Social Media Specialist. I saw so many jobs for people who needed people to post on Facebook and other social media platforms for companies. It’s a growing field that I can only see continuing to grow. If you’re someone who is passionate for social media with an English degree, this job is for you. The English degree helps to write content, but the rest is all up to you!

Editor. This is what I originally wanted to do with my degree, but I did not find many jobs in my state. I would recommend entering the news industry with a degree in Journalism, but if you have a passion for writing, you may find a position as a news editor. Honestly, if you’re someone who pays attention to every detail, editing may be for you.

Technical Writer. This job title is a little harder to describe. Basically, engineers and other fields in science need writers. You can read more about my experience with engineers. If you love to take jargon and translate it into easy-to-understand language, this job is for you.

Proposal/Grant Writer. I took a proposals and grants class my last semester at USU. From that class and my job search, it looks like proposal writers are still in high demand. These jobs are a little harder to gain without experience, but it’s also a great field to enter if you want to help charities and non-profits.

Personally, I love the job that I found. Sometimes it can be hard and I sometimes don’t know what I’m doing, but it’s been such a learning experience. It’s fascinating to see why people write the way they do online. If you’re an English major, have hope! You can find a career. I believe in you!

This is one of the most common questions asked when meeting someone new. Thankfully, my name isn’t hard to pronounce, and I don’t have a nickname, but my name is unique (to say the least). When I get asked what my name is, the conversation usually goes something like this:

The conversation that follows is some narrative about how my full name just flows off the tongue and my grandpa probably had something to do with it. While I’m glad I don’t have to repeat my name five times for people to remember my name, sometimes people have more fun with my name than I do. However, that’s not a bad thing.

Here’s why I love my name:

It represents me. My name is short and perky, much like me! It’s nearly impossible to sound mad while yelling “Becky Rebecca Banks.”

It’s simple. I don’t enjoy overly complex things. As a technical communicator, my job is to take complex things and make them easy-to-understand.

It’s easy to spell. I hate spelling errors more than any other grammatical error. I can understand why someone uses a comma wrong, but spelling is different. A word is spelled right or wrong, and the answer is a simple google search away.

Much like my name, this blog represents me, is simple, and is hopefully devoid of spelling errors. I’ve always loved the English language and its quirks; I hope you’ll find my thoughts and quirks interesting as well!

About Me

As you can see from the title of this blog, my name is Becky Rebecca Banks. I am a recent graduate from Utah State University. I currently work at a digital marketing agency as a content writer. I never would have guessed I would write for a living, but here I am!